Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-m9pkr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-11T01:00:33.792Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Change of Heart: Uses of Qualitative Gerontology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Warren Thorngate
Warren Thorngate
Affiliation:
Carleton University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Scientists produce much quantitative research hoping to improve people's decisions by changing their minds, that is by influencing their beliefs about what is true or false. However, research indicates that it is more important to change their hearts, that is to influence their values about what is important or trivial. Qualitative research changes hearts more effectively than does quantitative research because qualitative research tends to attract and to inspire larger audiences and because it can more easily communicate practical examples. Some possible uses of qualitative research for policy decisions in gerontology are discussed.

Résumé

Les scientifiques font de nombreuses recherches quantitatives dans l'espoir d'influencer l'esprit des gens, c'est-à-dire leur vision de ce qui est vrai ou faux, et d'obtenir ainsi qu'ils prennent de meilleures décisions. Toutefois, les recherches indiquent qu'il est plus important d'atteindre le coeur, c'est-à-dire les valeurs, leur vision de ce qui est important ou ne l'est pas. La recherche qualitative est plus efficace que la recherche pour influencer les valeurs des gens, parce qu'elle tend à attirer et à inspirer un public plus large et parce qu'elle peut communiquer des exemples pratiques plus aisément. Des applications possibles de la recherche qualitative pour des politiques en gérontologie sont examinées.

Keywords

Beliefs and ValuesPhilosophies of LifeQualitative ResearchGerontologyPolicy Decisions.Valeurs et croyancesphilosophies de la vierecherche qualitativedécisions de politique.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 12 , Issue 2: Qualitative Methods/Les méthodes qualitatives , Été/Summer 1993 , pp. 244 - 250
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arkes, H., & Hammond, K. (Eds.). (1986). Judgment and decision making. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brooks, C., & Warren, R. (1979). Modern rhetoric. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Campbell, G. (1963). The phihsophy of rhetoric. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press. (Original work published 1776)Google Scholar
Crowe, J. (1981, June 13). The Wisdom Bank. Today Magazine, pp. 5–6.Google Scholar
de Sousa, R. (1987). The rationality of emotion. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Lazarsfeld, P. (1972). Qualitative analysis: Historical and critical essays. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
Maki, J., Thorngate, W., & McClintock, C. (1979). Prediction and perception of social motives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 203–210.Google Scholar
Oskamp, S. (1977). Attitudes and opinions. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Reinharz, S., & Rowles, G. (Eds.). (1988). Qualitative gerontology. New York: Springer Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Scott, R., & Shore, A. (1979). Why sociology does not apply: A study of the use of sociology in public policy. New York: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Silverman, D. (1985). Qualitative methodology and sociology. Brookfield, VE: Gower Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Thorngate, W. (1979). Memory, cognition, and social performance. In Strickland, L. (Ed.), Soviet and western perspectives in social psychology (pp. 289–316). Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Thorngate, W. (1980). Efficient decision heuristics. Behavioral Science, 25, 219–225.Google Scholar
Thorngate, W. (1988). On paying attention. In Baker, W., Mos, L., van Rappard, H. & Stam, H. (Eds.), Recent trends in theoretical psychology (pp. 247–264). New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Thorngate, W. (1990). The economy of attention and the development of psychology. Canadian Psychology, 21, 62–70.Google Scholar
Thorngate, W., & Ferguson, T. (1977). Behind the eyeball: Some common misuses of information in human decision making. Canadian Journal of Information Science, 2, 1–11.Google Scholar
Thorngate, W., & Hotta, M. (1990). Expertise and information retrieval. Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, and Utilization, 11, 237–247.Google Scholar
Thorngate, W., & Plouffe, L. (1987). The consumption of psychological knowledge. In Stam, H., Rogers, T. & Gergen, K. (Eds.), Metapsychology: The analysis of psychological theory (pp. 61–92). New York: Hemisphere Press.Google Scholar
Tiselius, A., & Nilsson, S. (1970). The place of value in a world of facts: Proceedings of the fourteenth Nobel Symposium. New York: Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
The wisdom of the aged. (1981, November 14). Today Magazine, pp. 10–14,18.Google Scholar
Wright, G. (Ed.). (1985). Behavioral decision making. New York: Plenum.Google Scholar